By Your Side

Chapter 19

Nami's P.O.V
(I just realized I haven't done a Nami P.O.V since the beginning of No Regrets, Right? 👀 Should I start inserting more P.O.V's?)

"Come on, please! You just need to get outta here and hide for a little while. You can come back later, your not breaking your word!"

"I won't go." Luffy replied, holding his hat down as the rain and wind picked up. "What happens if Sanji comes back here while I'm gone? It's okay, leave this fight to me!"

I swear he is so stubborn! I fumed at his response. "Luffy this is impossible, we're in the middle of an Emperor's territory!" I reminded him.

"I told him I would be here..." I watched as he breathed heavily, still worn out from fighting Cracker earlier. "I won't break my promise."

Ugh, how did everything go so wrong? I sighed, seeing he wasn't going to listen. Chopper and Carrot are stuck in the mirror world, we haven't heard from Brook and Pedro, then (Y/N) goes missing, and now we have an army?!

I frowned as I stared down at my hands that were resting against the stump of Kingbaum. And Sanji... how could he do such a thing... Images of him beating up Luffy flashed through my head.

"You guys should get out of here now..." I was brought back by hearing Luffy.

I glanced down to where he was standing, baffled. "What? But Luffy-"

"Just go!" He shouted just as Kingbaum started running away.

"He's going out on a limb for us!" Kingbaum shouted as he ran.

"No wait! We got to go back, he can't possibly take all of them on at once!" I shouted down to Kingbaum, glancing at where we just were, watching Luffy's figure grow smaller.

I heard shouts and battle cry's, leading me to believe the fight has begun. Luffy!

"We better raise our roots and get away!" Kingbaum stated, noticing the battle commencing as well.

———

(Y/N)'s P.O.V

I made my way out the main doors, stopping to look up in the sky, holding a hand to shield my eyes. "It's raining..." A raindrop entered my mouth, causing me to gasp. "It's syrup!" At this point I shouldn't be surprised, everything here is sweet...

A strike of lightning went off in the distance, touching the ground. Wait a second... that's Nami's attack! I widened my eyes as I recognized the dark cloud that hovered where the lightning came from, before disappearing.

I let out a hmph, before I ran straight ahead, following the path in front of me. "Man, Sanji could've told me that the path was long..." I groaned, as I saw how far the path stretched in front of me.

"Please, just hold out until I get there..." I mumbled, huffing every few seconds as I ran. I might not be able to leave, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. I reached a hand up to the collar, griping it. At least, I hope that's the case.

———

Sanji's P.O.V
(Good bit of P.O.V changes for this chapter :) )

After I told (Y/N) where to go to find Nami and Luffy, I turned in the direction the footsteps seeing it was just a servant.

I ignored them, and started walking in the direction I was previously headed to before running into (Y/N). I reach upon a door, knocking on it slightly.

Hearing a come in, I opened the door and stepped in before allowing it to close behind me. "Well this is a surprise, why don't you have a seat."

I closed my eyes, stuffing my hands into my pockets before walking forward and sitting down in a chair. "I came here to ask you for a favor..."

"Alright then, what can I do?" As the question reached my ears, I started to debate on if this was the best choice.

"I'll marry your daughter tomorrow, I promise you." I glared hard as I spoke these words, gaining Big Mom's full attention as she stopped eating her sweets. "But there's one catch... you let my friends go free, how's that sound?"

She stared intently for a moment, before closing her eyes and continuing with eating her sweets. I can't tell what she's thinking... "Please-"

"Sounds good." She replied simply as she ate another cake. Wait- that's it?

"What?! Are you being serious?" I widened my eyes, as that was all it took for her to agree.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Her response threw me off, "You will find that I can be reasonable, as long as your willing to follow my rules, that is. Don't you worry about the Straw Hats, the crew members your currently allied with will be free to leave. I promise, I'll give you my word on it."

There must be a catch, that seemed a little too easy.

———

(Y/N)'s P.O.V

After what felt like hours, I finally reached the battlefield. "No way..." I gasped out as I stood there, not believing what I was seeing.

I took small steps forward as I glanced around, seeing several chest piece looking soldiers lying around the field, swords scattered all over the place or impaled into the ground.

"Luffy... Nami..." I gasped out before rapidly swinging my head around. Where are they?!

I began to search around, looking in every direction for a glimpse of what could resemble the two. Come on... where are you guys...

I didn't like how quiet everything was, obviously the battle was over, but a part of me hopes that they are around somewhere.

After 10 minutes of searching, I felt what little hope I had begin to wither away. "Luffy, Nami... you have to be here... you have to."

I clenched my hands beside me as I stood in the rain, glancing at the ground. "You can't be gone- no." I shook my head snapping it back up. I can't think like that, I have to stay positive!

With determination, I swept my eyes over the battlefield once more, seeing a big shadow, of what looked to be a stump, in the distance. There!

Not wasting a second, I began to run towards the stump. As I ran, I slipped from the slickness of the grass and fell down into a puddle.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I began to pick myself up, gripping the grass between my fingers before I wobbily stood back up and continued running.

As I ran more, I could see the stump more clearly. The clearer it got, the more my footsteps faltered as I realized there was no one there. "That can't really be gone..."

I dropped down to my knees, as tears began to well up in my eyes. "I knew it, I'm too late." I knew the minute I reached this field that I was too late, but I simply didn't want to believe it, now I'm facing the facts.

"I- I don't know what to do... I-" I hiccuped as tears poured down my face, mixed with the syrup rain. I'm all alone. I have no way of contacting the others and now Luffy and Nami are who knows where.

At this rate, the wedding with happen and there will be nothing we could do about it. I crawled closer to the stump, resting my back on it as I tilted my head up to the sky, thinking of what my next move should be.

Brook and Pedro have probably snuck into the castle by now, while I have no clue what happened with Chopper and Carrot after being separated.

I want to go look for Nami and Luffy but, one, I don't know where they were taken to, and two, even if I did find them, I would be fighting alone. It might be possible if I had someone to back me up, but I don't.

I let out a heavy sigh, not seeing a solution. "What do I do now...?"

———
Published: 08/23/2022